Final Thoughts

The Apevia X-TELSTAR came to my door in its original box, and the box clearly displays what is inside. I have mixed feelings about the X-Telstar. Overall does it look fabulous? No. Does it look nice? Yes. Could it look better? I think Apevia's other nice case offerings are more aesthetically appealing, but this case is very well builtl, especially the innards. I like the window but feel Apevia came short of offering a more complete and thought out LCD panel and LED lighting setup. I don't like the side and top metal fan grilles. The case is easy to work with, inside there is plenty of room. Is it a good value considering it costs a little more than Apevia's X-Navigator series? Not especially, no.

X-Telstar Conclusion

There's a lot to like about the Apevia X-TELSTAR computer case, and a lot to not like. It seems to be a revision of an earlier well designed case but what was added on wasn't thought through very well.

Would the Apevia X-Telstar be my first choice when shopping? No. Is it a good case? Yes it is.

Cons:

- Front LCD display doesn't appeal to my tastes
- HDD access feedback on the LCD panel is subtle and not real-time
- Very long PCI/AGP/PCI-E cards will not fit due to non-removable hidden drive bays (max card length is about 10.6 inches)
- Top case fan grille interferes with the fan to cause a high pitched whine
- Must open front panel door to get to power button
- Side metal fan grille blocks aesthetically pleasing LED fan (easily fixed)
- Fan adjust knob sticks out far enough that it may accidentally be broken off by some
- Drive bay cages don't have any noise reduction features (hard drives are getting quieter though)
- Internal hidden hard drive cages are not well situated for direct fan-on-hard-drive placement

Notes:

* Know that your audio card or motherboard might not support the three front panel USB/firewire/audio plugs. Check the online X-TELSTAR manual for plugs configuration.